The F Word dives into a realm every entrepreneur experiences and yet so few want to talk about: failure. Join us as we engage in vulnerable discussions with some of Tulsa’s top entrepreneurs about the trials, roadblocks, fears and insecurities they’ve overcome while building their businesses.

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Speaker 1: ... because we were all in panic mode. How do we keep this thing afloat? I refuse to lose. I hate losing.

Speaker 2: If you're in the grind, just be reminded of the prize. Why are you doing this?

Speaker 3: I didn't even know what franchising was. I left that meeting, drove straight to Barnes and Noble, and bought the book, Franchising for Dummies.

Speaker 4: Many times, we would tell a customer, "Yes, we can do that," and I had no idea what I was doing.

Dustin: Hey, there, and welcome to The F Word, a new podcast from 36 Degrees North. I'm Dustin Curzon, Executive Director of 36 Degrees North. If you're not familiar, we're an entrepreneurship hub, here in the beautiful Tulsa Arts District, and we are pumped to shared some amazing stories you on the very first season of The F Word. You're probably wondering, what's the deal with the name? Well, we chose The F Word because it's the word that most of us don't want to talk about, failure. If you're an entrepreneur, it's really easy for us to think about all the great things that are ahead, and we're also really good at ignoring all the bad stuff that might happen. But the stats don't lie. Everybody's going to fail at some point. Also, if you ask most entrepreneurs, they'll tell you that their failures are just as important, if not more so, than their successes. We're going to talk about some epic failures. People who built great things, destroyed them, and then built them again. Our hope is that, through this podcast, you'll feel challenged, that you'll feel inspired to dream big and keep moving forward. This season is hosted by our Communications Manager, Lauren King. Say hi, Lauren.

Lauren: Hello.

Dustin: Because she joined 36 Degrees North, Lauren was a professional journalist, so she knows how to ask a really good probing question. I know this firsthand because usually I'm at the receiving end of these questions. Lauren, tell us, what are you excited about, this first season of The F Word?

Lauren: Oh, my gosh. There's so much to be excited about this season. I'm excited about the variety of entrepreneurs we met. One of my first interviews was with Chip Gabarino from Topeca Coffee Roasters. He talks about turning a struggling family farm into an incredibly successful seed to cup coffee company. Another episode I'm excited about it Shannon Wilburn. She's the founder of the Just Between Friends pop-up consignment shop. Shannon was actually a pastor's wife who just needed a little extra cash, and now her franchise covers the whole US and Canada, so really cool. I also really enjoyed our interview with Josh Juarez, the founder of Josh's Sno Shack, which is a Tulsa staple, of course. He started his whole business because he was in love. It's a great story. I think people are going to find something unique in each of these entrepreneurs that they can really relate to and grow from hearing their stories. I think it's going to be a good one.

Dustin: Awesome. Okay, so here's how it's going to play out. First episode's out today. Lauren's going to talk with Zac Carmen, he's the CEO of Consumer Affairs. He's going to talk about his first startup, that resembled something like Netflix. Then he's going to talk about how he totally changed the revenue model for Consumer Affairs, and then he's going to talk about why he thinks Jay-Z's music is critical to an entrepreneur's success. It's a killer way to start the season. After that, we'll release an episode every Tuesday for about eight weeks or so. We have a bunch of other entrepreneurs lined up; Eric Marshall from Marshall Brewing, Robin Siegfried from NORDAM-

Lauren: Who's hysterical, by the way.

Dustin: I'm excited for that one ... Adrian Kallweit from SeekingSitters and many more. We're excited about it, hope you are too, enjoy.